Recent heavy rain in the south of France has caused the temporary closure of the Lourdes Shrine, causing 200 pilgrims to be evacuated from the Shrine due to heavy floods. Flash floods in the region have already claimed the life on an elderly woman, and about 2,000 people are strandard.

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Though rescue efforts picked up momentum in flash flood and landslide hit areas of Himachal and Uttarakhand with a let up in the rains and decrease in water level in the Ganga and its tributaries, the whole of Uttarakhand still wore a marooned and devastated look.

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Recent reports from the Guangdong province show coercion in China’s infamous one-child policy is once again on the rise. Women in the southern city of Huizhou, which has a population of 4 million, are being targeted for sterilization. Those who have one child are being forced to wear IUDs. Those who have two children are subject to tubal ligation. Those who bear an “illegal” child are being denied all government services. This means life without access to schools, hospitals, retirement benefits, etc.

World Youth Day organizers are teaming up with the World Wildlife Fund. Together, they have launched a video on why it's important to protect animals and Mother Nature. The video titled, 'We Are All Connected' shows the strong bond between animals and humans.

During his weekly general audience, Pope Francis talked about the need to protect the Earth and its resources. More specifically, he talked about not wasting food. Wednesday marks 'World Environment Day,' and so the Pope talked about not giving into a culture of extreme consumerism, where things are bought, only to be thrown away soon after.

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A couple of weeks ago, the President of Burma/Myanmar was a visitor to the US and to the White House. I wonder how many hearing news of this visit knew that Burma has a restrictive-birth policy similar to that of China? I certainly didn’t know about such a policy, but according to this article in the International Herald Tribune, there has been a two-child limit in Burma/Myanmar since 1994.

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Pope Francis said that it is urgent to focus on people and not just on nature on World Environment Day. “The human person is in danger, this is certain, the human person is in danger today, here is the urgency of human ecology!” exclaimed Pope Francis June 5 during his general audience.

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Pope Francis has asked everyone to join him in praying for the victims of the devastating tornado that hit Oklahoma City ripping through homes and schools and claiming at least 24 lives, nine of them children.

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The world’s Catholic population rose by 1.5% in 2011—the last year for which accurate figures are available—according to the Vatican’s latest statistics.

Rescue teams are making every effort to reach the most remote areas of Sichuan, China, hit by an earthquake two days ago. The death toll has increased: there are 188 dead, 21 missing, 11 thousand injured of which about 1,000 are in serious a condition. The State Council has banned unauthorized groups from travelling to the area for fear of adding to traffic problems.

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